Growth for electric truck company

Washington, Tyne-and-Wear-based electric vehicle and aerial platform manufacturer

has released end of year results showing continued growth and one of its biggest orders to date.

The company’s Smith Electric Vehicle division has received an order for 100 vehicles, a mixture of the Newton truck and Edison van models, destined for fleet operators across the public and private sectors in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is the largest new customer order for Smith to date.

The company has increased production capacity in line with management's target of producing up to 30 vehicles a week by early 2008. Order intake also remains strong for the purchase of single seed vehicles or small fleets for assessment.

In December, Tanfield launched a 12,000kg version of the Smith Newton truck in the US. The vehicle was well received and Tanfield is in discussions to supply Newton to a significant number of major fleet operators in North America.

This 12,000kg model is the largest electric vehicle Tanfield has produced to date, and is designed specifically for the US market. It will be powered by a lithium-ion phosphate battery pack and has a range of up to 240km. The company said it is on track to commence manufacture of the US Newton for the North America market early next year.